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Today's Birthday Team features an incredibly awkward second base battle between two Hall of Famers and a guy with a long career and a lifetime OBP of .423.

If this was a real team, Bishop would probably play either 3B or SS, but he only started one game on the left side of the infield in real life and moving Mazeroski seems insane. So the Camera Eye sits the bench.

Feel free to play Bishop and bench Maz if you'd like. That's probably the right move anyway.

Game of the day (yesterday): Cardinals 5, Reds 4 (16). I'll pause while you all recover from your shock at this selection.

Matt Carpenter started the game with a single, but Bronson Arroyo then coaxed a double play from Carlos Beltran. In the bottom of the inning, Shelby Miller walked Shin-Soo Choo, allowed a double to Brandon Phillips, and walked Jay Bruce, but retired the other three batters he faced and left the bases loaded. Arroyo worked a perfect second, and Cincinnati pushed across the game's first runs in the bottom of the inning; Zack Cozart and Ryan Hanigan singled, Arroyo bunted them over to second and third, Choo hit an RBI groundout, and a wild pitch scored Hanigan to make it 2-0.

Both starters were flawless in the third, and the Cardinals came back to tie in the fourth. Carpenter and Beltran started the rally with singles, putting runners on the corners. Matt Holliday then hit a sac fly, with Beltran taking second on the throw home. Allen Craig followed with a single, and Beltran came home when Joey Votto made an error on the play. Craig was thrown out trying for second, but the game was still tied.

The Reds threatened in the fourth when Todd Frazier singled and Hanigan walked, but didn't retake the lead until Phillips led off the fifth with a homer. That advantage proved ephemeral as Carpenter and Beltran struck again in the sixth, tying the game with a double and a single. Another single by Frazier and walk by Hanigan in the bottom of the sixth spelled the end of Miller's outing; after Arroyo's bunt, Randy Choate replaced Miller and retired Choo to keep the tie intact.

Arroyo worked a scoreless seventh, as did Kevin Siegrist. Sam LeCure allowed a walk to Carpenter and a Holliday single in the eighth before Zach Duke (who I had no idea was a Red) took over and struck out Matt Adams to end the inning, and Trevor Rosenthal and Aroldis Chapman combined to retire the next nine hitters, sending the game to extras still tied at 3.

The tenth went quickly, with JJ Hoover and Sam Freeman both recording spotless innings. Hoover walked Holliday and allowed a Yadier Molina single in the eleventh before Jon Jay grounded out to leave them on. John Axford set the Reds down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the inning, and Alfredo Simon did the same to the Cardinals in the top of the next one. Tyler Lyons worked around a two-out Choo single in the bottom of the twelfth, and Simon and Lyons then proceeded to combine on a baserunner-free thirteenth.

Adams led off the top of the fourteenth with a solo homer, giving the Cardinals their first lead of the day. Simon recovered to retire the next three hitters, and the Reds rallied against Edward Mujica in the bottom of the inning. Ryan Ludwick led off with a single, and was replaced by pinch runner Billy Hamilton (September!). Hamilton stole second, and then scored on a Cozart single to tie the game. Devin Mesoraco bunted into a force at second, and Jack Hannahan then hit into an inning-ending double play.

Logan Ondrusek took the mound in the fifteenth and allowed a leadoff hit to Kolten Wong, who moved to second on a bunt. That brought Carpenter and Beltran to the plate, and Ondrusek managed to strike both of them out to end the threat. Choo greeted Carlos Martinez with a single in the bottom of the inning and was bunted to second by Phillips (which seems like an odd use for someone who's supposedly the team MVP). Votto grounded out to move Choo to third, Bruce was intentionally walked, and Choo was then picked off of third by Molina.

In the sixteenth, Adams came up again with one out, and again homered. Martinez then worked a spotless bottom of the inning to nail down the victory.

OK, so this is obviously a fantastic game (#20 on the year so far without accounting for the fact that it was between two contenders). It's the second multi-homer game of Adams's career, and both of the homers came in extras - can anyone look up how many players have had multiple homers in extra innings of the same game? Now how many people did it after coming off the bench (Adams replaced Craig in the fourth)?

Allen Craig followed with a single, and Beltran came home when Joey Votto made an error on the play. Craig was thrown out trying for second, but the game was still tied.

Votto made the error after a great stop. From the ground he tried to lob the ball to the pitcher running over to cover first and instead just tossed it over his head. Craig, seeing this, turned the corner to think about going to second and twisted his ankle on the turn. The Reds eventually picked up the ball just sitting there and saw that Craig was just lying about 10 feet off first base, so they went over and tagged him.

Ryan Ludwick led off with a single, and was replaced by pinch runner Billy Hamilton (September!). Hamilton stole second, and then scored on a Cozart single to tie the game. Devin Mesoraco bunted into a force at second, and Jack Hannahan then hit into an inning-ending double play.

The Reds had Cozart bunting for some reason while Hamilton was on first. He failed to execute the bunt, and instead just drove in the run. Also, the Mesoraco bunt was truly terrible.

Choo greeted Carlos Martinez with a single in the bottom of the inning and was bunted to second by Phillips (which seems like an odd use for someone who's supposedly the team MVP).

More crazy bunting!

Votto grounded out to move Choo to third, Bruce was intentionally walked,

Votto ended up 0-7, and made an error that scored a run. Probably the worst game of his career. Also, the Cardinals then intentionally walked Bruce with two outs. Meaning that they elected to pitch to Votto with one out, rather than walking him to set up the double play. But then say Bruce standing there and thought 'we better not risk it.' I guess it worked out but wow. Talk about a lack of respect for Votto.

and Choo was then picked off of third by Molina.

For some reason, with two outs Heisey decided to try and bunt for a hit? Choo clearly had no idea this was coming but saw Heisey rushing toward first and mistook the momentum from his failed bunt for evidence of a successful bunt. So he broke for home, and then was thrown out.

Total insanity.

OK, so this is obviously a fantastic game (#20 on the year so far without accounting for the fact that it was between two contenders). It's the second multi-homer game of Adams's career, and both of the homers came in extras - can anyone look up how many players have had multiple homers in extra innings of the same game? Now how many people did it after coming off the bench (Adams replaced Craig in the fourth)?

Was posted in the game chatter thread. I think it was the 7th time it's been done.

Game of the day (1977): Orioles 7, White Sox 5. Some pitching matchups are hard to summarize in a neat fashion. This one is not: it's two guys who combined to win four Cy Young awards in an 8-year span, all for the Orioles. Jim Palmer won three, including the two right before this season; Steve Stone took the other.

Palmer was obviously the better pitcher ('77 was his third straight 20-win season, and the seventh of what would become eight in nine years), but he got off to a worse start in this one. After Stone worked around a walk in the top of the first, Palmer allowed singles to Ralph Garr, Chet Lemon, and Oscar Gamble to open the scoring. Stone also issued walks in the second and third, but kept the scoreboard clear, while Palmer allowed a two-out Lemon triple in the third before leaving the runner on.

Eddie Murray finally recorded the first Oriole hit in the fourth inning, but his teammates failed to advance him. In the bottom of the inning, Gamble led off with a double and scored on Jim Spencer's single for a 2-0 Chicago lead. Singles by Dave Skaggs and Al Bumbry gave Baltimore a chance in the fifth, but Rich Dauer hit into a double play to waste it. In the sixth, however, the Orioles finally got on the board despite not managing a hit. Ken Singleton walked and took second on a wild pitch. One out later, Murray reached on an error, with Singleton taking third, and Pat Kelly followed with a sac fly to cut the deficit to 2-1.

Palmer and Stone traded perfect innings, and Chicago then mounted a brief threat in the eighth (Spencer singled and Bob Coluccio walked) before Palmer finished them off. In the top of the eighth, the Orioles finally got to their future teammate. Dauer led off with a double and took third on a wild pitch, Singleton walked (and was pulled for a pinch runner), and Lee May singled in the tying run. Dave Hamilton came in and retired Murray, and Lerrin LaGrow then took the mound and struck out pinch hitter Andres Mora, but Doug DeCinces walked to load the bases, and Terry Crowley, having sat on the bench for seven innings and watched the game like any other fan, stepped to the plate as a pinch hitter. He did not knock one out of the park, but he did deliver a go-ahead two-run single before being pulled for a pinch runner.

Having been handed his first lead of the day, Palmer quickly set about giving it back. Richie Zisk drew a one-out walk, and with two outs, Eric Soderholm and Spencer singled to cut the Baltimore advantage to 4-3. Lamar Johnson followed with a pinch double that tied the game and chased Palmer. Dick Drago intentionally walked pinch hitter Henry Cruz (who I have never heard of, but who was issued IBBs in more than 1% of his 310 career PA). The September roster expansion then made itself evident (well, more evident) as the Sox burned two hitters while the Orioles installed Tippy Martinez on the mound. Wayne Nordhagen eventually stepped to the plate and took strike 3 to leave the bases loaded with the game still tied.

Clay Carroll entered for Chicago in the ninth and quickly gave up singles to Bumbry and Dauer. Bumbry somehow failed to score on a force at second in his first chance, but did so in his second, putting the team ahead 5-4; Murray then capped the rally with a 2-run homer. Martinez allowed a two-out surge that included a John Flannery walk and singles by Gamble and Soderholm, bringing the Sox within 7-5, but Spencer then grounded out to end the game.

So, we have a pitching matchup of the once and future Baltimore Cy Young winners, multiple lead changes in the late innings, and heroics from pinch hitter and recipient of highly entertaining verbal abuse Terry Crowley, all of it coming in a game between two teams fighting for their playoff lives (both ended the day exactly 5 games back). Not bad for a day's work.